Time-to-Adoption: Two to Three Years
Personal Learning Environments
Personal learning environments (PLEs) are a loosely defined term used to describe tools that
support self-directed and group-based learning, focus on individual learning goals and needs,
with great capacity for flexibility and customization. The term has been evolving for some time,
but has crystalized recently around the personal collections of tools and resources a person
assembles to support their own learning — both formal and informal. The conceptual basis for
PLEs has shifted significantly in the last two years, as smartphones, tablets, and apps have begun to emerge as compelling alternatives to browser-based PLEs and e-portfolios. There has been a corresponding move away from centralised, server-based solutions to distributed and portable ones. Using a growing set of free and simple tools and applications, or even a personally assembled collection of apps on a tablet, it is already easy to support one’s ongoing social, professional, and learning activities with a handy collection of resources and tools that are always with you. While the concept of PLEs is still fairly fluid, it is clear that a PLE is not simply a technology but an approach or process that is individualised by design, and thus different from person to person.
Relevance for Teaching and Learning in Singaporean K-12 Education
! The notion of a PLE is a useful way for students to think about the collections of apps they
might assemble on a smartphone or tablet to help them support their learning and
learning-related work.
! PLEs may cater to students with differing learning styles; for instance, visual learners might
be able to obtain material from a different source than auditory learners do.
! Students using PLEs may benefit from the practice of keeping track of, and curating, their
own resource collections.
Personal Learning Environments in Practice
! A former teacher is creating an open cloud service that leverages crowd sourced tagging
to share and organise educational content, such as e-books, videos, and apps, into
customizable learning maps: go.nmc.org/genome.
! “Innovative Technologies for an Engaging Classroom” is a pan-European project that joins
policy-makers with educators to develop scalable learning environments: go.nmc.org/itec.
! Nan Chiau Primary School and Microsoft launched the WE Learn mobile education project,
which incorporates smartphones in order to foster collaborative environments and
inquiry-based 21st century curriculum: go.nmc.org/nyxfm.